Top positive review

I admit, I wasn't expecting much when I first heard about Just Dance a few months ago. I figured it'd be just like another one of those games like Dancing with the Stars and High School Musical where you see characters on screen dancing, but all you're doing is waving your remote to match the visual cues on the screen. Ho Hum.

The first thing that struck me when I popped the game into the Wii was that these were fun songs from every era. They're all family-friendly, and there's something in the track list for everyone, from baby boomers to Gen X'ers to Gen Y'ers. Here's the entire track list. Most of the songs are not covers, but original tracks from the original singers.

The second thing that impressed me was that this game features actual dance moves to the songs. In other words, not only are you playing the game, you're learning actual dance steps. You'll learn the "Mashed Potato" that was all the rage in the 1960's to Dee Dee Sharp's "Mashed Potato Time". You'll learn the best disco moves of the 70's with songs like "That's the Way I Like It". And my personal dream come true--you can dance like MC Hammer with "U Can't Touch This".

For the controller, they went for a decidedly simpler approach, and they hit a home run. For using one Wii remote, the controls are remarkably accurate as far as detecting whether you're dancing correctly or not. For each move, you'll be given a grade of "Great", "Okay" and "X". Now, I won't lie and say the controls are the most precise in the world. There'll be plenty of times you'll be doing the moves precisely, but the Wii will tell you you're not. But where this game triumphs is that even though the controls may be off, the game is so fun that you really don't care.

And you also find that the more you practice the moves and "feel the music", the better your scores become. If you've gotten to the point where you've memorized the dance and are just doing the moves to the music, your score will be great.

The game is simple. You choose a song, and then after a countdown from 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, you'll see a silhouetted character on your screen doing the dance moves. The character is generally dressed appropriately for the song: a disco dude will lead you through "That's the Way I Like It", a cowgirl will do a two-step to "Cotton Eye Joe", and a dog (yes, a dog) will dance to "Who Let the Dogs Out". You basically just have to do the mirror image of the character's moves.

They also have multiplayer games. In the first game (Challenge), you can basically have a dance-off between you and up to three other friends to see who'll get the high score. Again, you don't mind in this case if the controls are not completely precise because you're all on the same playing field. In the second game (Strike a Pose), it's like a game of Red Light / Green Light where you have to freeze in your tracks when the music stops. The third game (Last one standing) is an elimination game where the person who makes the least mistakes wins the game.

As fpr the exercise value, with virtually every song, I ended it panting because I was out of breath, and even though I was out of breath I wanted to try it again and again until I got it right. To me, that's the sign of a great exercise game.

Top critical review

2.0 out of 5 starsIf the recognition was like Just Dance 3, this would be AWESOME

ByH.F.on February 6, 2012

I have all three just dance games for the wii, and this was the one I purchased last. I do just dance 2 & 3 every day, so my scores are usually over 10,000...but when I got this game, I was confused! My score will obviously be lower because I haven't practiced these songs, but the recognition of it is just terrible in comparison to the other two games. I thought this was supremely disappointing because to me, it has the best song list. It's really frustrating to be doing the moves and still have it giving you big X's over and over again. Despite the awesome song list, I'd recommend going for 2 or 3 instead. Playing this version of just dance made me wish I just had an xbox kinect, so I wouldn't have to deal with the stupid wiimote not registering my moves.

I had no motivation, no energy, felt lazy, but this game got me going.

YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS!! Who doesn't dance when no one is looking?!?! LOL

You don't need major skills to play the game, especially if you are just messing around and it doesn't make you feel like you are a disappointment if you get no points. You might just have too much fun.

You burn serious calories if you do all the moves. I do take the game somewhat seriously, I bounce when the figure bounces, duck, slide, shimmy - whenever you see her or him do it in the game, and I end up having a great time doing it, and I don't care about points. I even sing along to the lyrics which is the best cause I even forget that I'm getting a workout in. I play about 10 rounds - FULL SONGS and I am drenched in sweat, out of breath, red in the face, and feel a rush of energy! I end up having a blast and can't stop smiling! At the end, I want to keep playing but I can be so out of breath that I have to give myself a minute. This can only happen if you really get into it!

Some options that I love about the game is that: players can join in anytime during a song. But I hate that after a song finishes I have to point and click OK to continue, sometimes I just want to get into the next song quickly and I have to stop moving to point and click.

It has 32 songs that I believe are really good selections. The latest songs in the game are Womanizer by Britney and Hot n Cold by Katy Perry. It has some good classics which I've never gotten tired of over the years. I enjoyed all the songs even though I'm more of a Hip-Hop head. Songs are

I'm going to add a pedometer to my workout post if anyone is interested.

The game has 32 songs and a couple of different ways to play.

There are difficulty levels to chose from depending on the song. Remember, the more the merrier so if you can have a friend join in, do it!

THIS HAS TO BE IN MY TOP 3 WORKOUT GAMES

I think this is a great way to get off the couch and start moving around a bit.

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I have all three just dance games for the wii, and this was the one I purchased last. I do just dance 2 & 3 every day, so my scores are usually over 10,000...but when I got this game, I was confused! My score will obviously be lower because I haven't practiced these songs, but the recognition of it is just terrible in comparison to the other two games. I thought this was supremely disappointing because to me, it has the best song list. It's really frustrating to be doing the moves and still have it giving you big X's over and over again. Despite the awesome song list, I'd recommend going for 2 or 3 instead. Playing this version of just dance made me wish I just had an xbox kinect, so I wouldn't have to deal with the stupid wiimote not registering my moves.

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My kids play games on the Wii - I'm in it for the exercise. And if you can have fun while you exercise, how great is that!

I started out with Wii Fit and the balance board. Highly recommended, especially for the balance exercises. If you THINK you have decent balance, you will find out that you're kidding yourself. Next I went on to Wii Walk It Out. Wowser - it was so fun that I didn't notice how much I was walking.

Now I have Wii Just Dance and this is just sooo cool. Going by the scoring, I am really really bad, and I'm not arguing with that! But if there was a fun-meter, I would be at the top. It is really easy to see what the avatar (or whatever they call the dancing figure) is doing. Yet it doesn't feel like standard exercise tapes (which I have tried and conveniently lost). It isn't a cartoon figure, they used live people and it makes it so much better.

No matter what level you're at, you can do this dancing exercise. For example, make it easier by just doing the arm movements and leaving off the leg moves. (Which I have to do until I've played a dance a few times anyway.) Which brings me to another benefit over just walking - you use your whole body. Arm movements, hip movements, waist movements. You are using your whole body, again, making it as low impact as you need to.

Right now, my routine is to warm up with the low-impact stepping exercise on Wii Fit. Then I go on to the balance exercises on Wii Fit. Then I do a little harder walking on the Wii Walk It Out. Then I end with dancing on Just Dance. All of a sudden, the time has flown by and I'm late getting to an appointment.

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After playing for a few hours last night, I'm finally getting the hang of this game and enjoying it. It's frustrating to get keep getting X's when it seems like you're doing it right. I'm a hardcore DDR player, so I really wanted to get good scores, but when I searched teh internets, all the reviews of the game said one of 2 things:A. The scoring system sucks, don't bother playing.B. The scoring system sucks, so just have fun and don't worry about score.

But if you're like me, "have fun" and "don't worry about score" do not belong in the same sentence!

After figuring out some things about the scoring system, I'm breaking 10,000 points pretty often, and having A LOT OF FUN too!So, here are some tips on how to get a better score (and therefore be less frustrated :D):1. As others have mentioned, dance with your whole body. Not that the Wii magically senses your body, but because this keeps your body on beat, which keeps you on beat, which is important to your score.2. Hold the WiiMote in your right hand, and keep your finger on the trigger. This keeps the WiiMote oriented in the way that the game expects. (e.g. If the WiiMote gets twisted in your hand, that will hurt your score, because when you make your hand mimic the dancer's hand, it expects the correct orientation).3. On a related note, try to focus on exactly what the dancer's right hand is doing. Not the whole body, and not even the whole right arm, but just the right hand, because that's what you're graded on. (But still do the rest of the motions, because that makes the game more fun! :D)4. I also have Cooking Mama, and playing that game taught me that there are only a few motions the Wii can sense, and to get the points, you need activate a specific sensor in a specific way. So, when you're doing a dance move, make your best guess as to which sensor it's looking for, and emphasize that motion.The 3 main sensors I've seen areA. The whip/flick. (The motion you would make if you were cracking a whip.) Just doing this on beat will get you a lot of points.B. Upward thrust. (The motion you would make if you were stabbing with a sword.) You'd be surprised how many moves look like they want some kind of curvy motion, yet the WiiMote just wants you to push it upward (all at once, and on beat!).C. Downward thrust. (The motion you would make if you were stabbing yourself with a sword.) Same story.There you go. Do one of those 3 (the correct one! :P) on beat, and that's 90% of your points right there. I'm still getting X's, so I think there's some other sensors I need to figure out. Gotta keep experimenting.5. If you're like me, then you want to get more feedback from the game, so you can improve. One way I did this was by playing in 2 player mode, with a WiiMote in each hand. That way, the game will tell you if what your right hand OR your left hand is doing is what gives you points for that move, which means you can figure out which sensor to go for that much faster!

Those are the ideas I have so far, and doing that has made the game fun even for a gamer like me.Find a song you like, play it a few times in a row, and watch your score go up as you get better at the timing and knowing what sensor to go for. Getting better scores is a good feeling. :D

Some other pro/cons:Pro: I like the song list. I'm surprised how many of these I know, even though the song is way older than I am! Even if you don't recognize the song from the tracklist, you'd probably recognize it if you heard it.Cons: Tutorial is worthless (nothing beyond the obvious). I don't know why they didn't include some way of practicing your moves, like the practice modes in Cooking Mama and Playstation 3 The Beatles: Rock Band - Software Only. Also, one of my WiiMotes lost the ability to sense shaking while I was playing this game. :( I'm hoping there's a way to fix this, but I'm not that optimistic.

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I bought this to have another option for my kids to burn some energy on those days we are stuck indoors due to the weather.

I never expected to enjoy it just as much as my 6 year old does.

The song list is varied enough that she knows quite a few of the songs which drew her in at the beginning. She often requests the 'move it move it' song because she knows it from Madagascar but has gotten into some of the others as well.

The scoring is a little screwy but as long as your purpose is having fun & not competing it matters little. However, I do feel that if they are going to have a scoring option that they need to work on making it more accurate. Why offer it if it isn't going to work very well?

The reason for 4 stars is the scoring & only having 30 songs, which is not enough. I wish they would at least offer an option (like Rock Band) where you could upload more.

I think it will take a while for this to get old, and I bet by then they will have come out with a new version which I'll probably be buying as well.

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The motions to Ring My Bell had me laughing so hard that I just had to stop and sit down. I am not a dancer and can't figure out my right foot from my left. Thankfully, I didn't have to worry about my feet; all I had to concentrate on were my arms and having a good time. The game doesn't fail you, so again, you can leave worry behind and just have a good time. My review is based upon only thirty minutes of play with my boys (10 and 11) on multiplayer challenge, but the fun we had in those thirty minutes was priceless. I can't wait to share this with my fun adult friends who have a lively sense of humor.

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The original game which started the legacy. The first installment of the JD series is a lot of fun, but the song selection is a bit meager compared to its successors. That being said, there is still a lot of fun to be had!

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I bought this game after trying it at a friend's house. Even though I knew I probably wouldn't use it in a party setting, I thought it would be fun to do on my own. I like to dance and doing several of the long-version songs in a row gets my blood moving. I don't care too much about the scoring since having fun is my goal, but I can see how it could be frustrating to some. There are times when it sure seems like I'm doing the moves perfectly and the Wii doesn't agree. For those who aren't serious gamers, this is plenty entertaining. My only concern is that I'll get tired of the limited song selection, but that hasn't happened yet.

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I am a fan of interactive dance games for video game systems, and I really expected more from 'Just Dance.' The game has some fun songs, and even if you don't get any moves right, you will still work up a sweat. However, it is frustrating because the scoring mechanism is horrible. Basically, you hold the Wii remote in your right hand, and try to mimic the dancer on the screen. It only seems to register about half the moves, and it is confusing because you are supposed to mirror the image (so when they move their right, you move your left, etc). It doesn't boo you or anything, but it is ridiculous that no one can get any sort of decent score. I give this game a C. There are NO extras, NO options to download more songs, and it lacks any sort of tutorial that explains in detail how scoring works. The "training" on screen just says something like "Get the moves right to get more points!" Not so helpful... I'd say if the game were $15 or even $20 it would better represent the value. Fun game/concept, but a sub-par effort for content and usability.

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We got this for my sensory perception disorder child. As suggested by a therapist to help with coridination by using opposite hand and feet in dance moves. It helps the signals cross the brain strengthing overall awareness of the body in relation to space. My sensory child loves it because it can be done in the privacy of the home, and they are not making mistakes in front of other people. It has helped very much, and the rest of the family loves to dance to it to. In fact we have added the rule that before playing any other games, the person must do TWO dances...no matter who is playing.. including parents. That way the sensory kid doesn't feel like it is being punished... Everyone in the family agreed to do it...